Slytherin & Gryffindor
by jenna.larsonsmith
Summary: The war is over and the gang returns to Hogwarts with a few changes.
1. Return to Hogwarts

A/N: I do not own any of the Harry Potter Characters; I just like to try out new things with them.

After the second war things had changed at Hogwarts, most of the students were not returning to school this year. There were to be new professors as well, most of the professor were killed during the war. But of those students returning to school were the Golden Trio, they had received letters of the summer holiday's informing them of their new positions at school. Harry Potter was now the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Ron Weasley was made Gryffindor Perfect and Hermione Granger was Head Girl. The whole Weasley clan had thrown a party in honor of the three students. Ginny Weasley had also made perfect with her brother Ron, Luna Lovegood was perfect for Ravenclaw and was currently dating Neville Longbottom. The train ride was uneventful, Harry, Ron, Hermione with Ginny, Luna and Neville all sat in a compartment together and discussed their summer holidays. It was not until they got to the school and were sitting down to the welcoming Feast that things got interesting.

Before the feast began the headmistress (Professor McGonagall, who replaced Professor Dumbledore after his death, as headmistress.) Made the same speech as Professor Dumbledore made the previous year about the forbidden forest and the other rules that they were not to break, but that was not the interesting part. It was during this speech that Hermione looked away from McGonagall to look at the other Professor and she spotted a familiar face but could not place it, he was tall, well built, had dark hair and a nice smile. It was bugging her that she did not know who he was, just as she was about to ask Harry if he knew who it was McGonagall was introducing the new professors. There was Professor Slughorn (Potions), Professor Trelawney (Divination), Professor Jones (Transfiguration), Professor Weasley (Defense Against the Dark Arts), Professor Flitwick (Charms), Professor Sinistra (Astronomy), Professor Sprout (Herbology), Professor Hagrid (Care of Magical Creatures) and the last professor at the table was Professor Flint (Flying). The last one was the cause of an uproar among the students, as he was a former Slytherin and former Captain for them.

Most of the Gryffindor's we upset at this, as they assumed that he would be just as bad as Snape was to them, the Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's really did not care and the Slytherin's were ecstatic about the new professor. But even so, most of the girls could be seen fluttering their eyes in his direction and trying to catch his eye to flirt with him. Over the years since his time at Hogwarts Flint had become what some might call handsome, his teeth got fixed, he grew a couple more inches he was now 6'2" and he had more muscle then he did when he attended Hogwarts as a student.

Hermione was probably the only girl who did not fawn over the new flying instructor, as she had checked him out well Professor McGonagall had given her speech, and now that the speech, introductions and sorting were finished the Feast began. Hermione was still disgusted by the way Ron ate and Harry was still no better, Ginny was busy talking with Lavender, so Hermione got her book out and proceeded to read. The book was Hogwarts A History, she had read it many times before, but it never hurt to read it again. As she was reading and paying attention to what was going on, she missed her name being called to follow McGonagall so she could show her and the Head Boy their new living quarters, but was rudely shoved as Draco Malfoy shoved her to get her attention.

"We are to follow McGonagall to our living quarters or do you not care?" Malfoy said with a sneer on his face.

"What do you mean our living quarters?" Hermione replied with disdain in her voice.

"Just that, I am Head Boy after all." Malfoy replied.

"This day keeps getting better." Hermione told him.

So, they followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall and up to the Heads Dormitory.

The next morning Hermione awoke to a wondrous site, her room was decorated in Gryffindor colors, her bed spread was garnet with gold threads weaved in it so it shimmered in the light, her bed was a four poster king size, with a canopy over the top. She had a garnet rug on the floor with a gold lion in the middle, her curtains were garnet and gold intertwined. She had end tables on either side of her bed with lamps and the lamp shades were both gold, she a dresser on one wall, one wall had a window, the other two had doors on them. One of the doors led out into the shared Common room and the other led to the shared bathroom.

Hermione had now been sitting in bed for a good fifteen minutes without realizing it. So know she hurried up and got out of bed, grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom to take a shower, thankfully Malfoy was either still asleep or he took his shower already. After a quick shower, she said a drying spell and muttered a quick "DEGRUMOR" and her hair became straight as a pin. She dressed in her uniform, but it was a little different from her previous years at school, this year the top was fitted and she left the top three buttons undone, her skirt was four inches above her knees and she wore her tie loose around her neck. As for her school robes they no longer swallowed her, they were fitted to her body very nicely. But as Hermione was used to dressing this way over the summer holiday, she did not see anything wrong with it. The only other change to her appearance would be she wore some make-up!

As she walked down to the Great Hall, heads turned to look a little closer and a little longer at the Head Girl just to make sure that it was Hermione and not some treat of the light. No one could believe that it was the Head Girl who looked that good, the boys all stared a little too long for their girlfriends liking (those who had one) and the girls all were giving her dirty looks. They believed that she should just stay the bushy haired bookworm. But with everything, things change and so had Hermione. Before the school term started she had made a promise to herself that this year was the year she came out of her shell and was not known as the brains of the Golden Trio. So over the summer she had adopted the new look and found that she quiet liked it. Now that she was back, it was time to concur her fear of flying, but the bad thing was that the new flying instructor just happened to be an ex-Slytherin. But, that was something else that was on the list of changes; befriend at least a couple of the Slytherin's.

In the Great Hall, noise stopped as she walked to the Gryffindor table and sat down.

"Hermione, what have you done to yourself?" Ron asked through a mouth full of food.

"Nothing, I just changed a few things, but it has been this way all summer. Ginny and Harry noticed when I came to the Burrow a few weeks ago." Hermione stated matter of Factly. She was tired of Ron not noticing her, she thought that after the kiss during the battle, things would change, but they did not.

"Hermione, you were not this beau… I mean you uh…. Did not look this at the house" Ron stuttered. '_Did she really come to the Burrow looking like this' _Ron thought to himself.

"Yes, Ron, she looked just like….well not just like this as she had on muggle clothes and not the uniform, but yes she looked like this. Prat!" Ginny informed her brother, with a smile on her face. She loved when she got the better of Ron and lately that was a lot of the time when it can to Hermione. Ron was just so clueless.

"Hermione, you look very nice today! How did you sleep in a room next to Malfoy?" Harry had come in while they were talking and sat down next to Ginny. He leaned over and gave Ginny a kiss on the head.

"It was ok; we pretty much just went to our own rooms and fell asleep. But you will have to come up and see it. It is beautiful. The common room is filled with books; my room is done in Gryffindor colors. But that was pretty much all I noticed." Hermione replied to Harry's question with a smile in his direction.

At this point Headmistress McGonagall started to hand out the Gryffindor timetables to the students in her house. Ron, Harry and Ginny all had Charms first, Ginny was in her Seventh year and Harry, Ron and Hermione were as well, due to the war taking place during what would have been their Seventh year. As they all looked over their timetables they noticed that most of their classes were with what Slytherin's had come back to school.

"Hermione, what do you have? Why do you not have Charms with us?" Ginny the ever observant one asked her.

"Well… uh… you see… the thing is… well…. I am taking flying this year. I figured I would finally get over my fear, since I can take on Death Eaters and fight in a war, I figure I can fly." Hermione let them know. She knew it would come out sooner or later and now that it was out there she felt better.

"But Flint is teaching that!" Ron informed her of this although she already knew this. He was read in the face and food was dropping out of his open mouth.

"Yes, Ronald, I am well aware of that fact now. When I requested flying this year as a class, I was not aware that he would be teaching it." Hermione told him and with that she left for the Quidditch pitch.

A/N: Please read and review. My other story I have posted has seen a couple reviews and most are encouraging, one was not! Please review!


	2. Flying Lessons

A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter related.

Hermione made her way out to the Quidditch pitch and the closer she got the more nervous she got. It was not like she hated the concept of flying it was the actual flying that terrified her. Once first year was over, she promised herself she would never get on a broom again, but that did not happen due to having to rescue Harry from the Dursley's house.

It looked like it was going to be a nice day out, the sun was up and there was no rain yet. As she got closer to the pitch, she noticed that there were not very many students headed that way, actually there were none going towards the pitch. '_I wonder if there are any students besides me taking flying this early_.' She thought to herself, '_Well no time like the present to find out_' and with that last thought, she stepped on to the pitch. She could see someone in the air flying around, throwing a Quaffle into the goals.

Marcus was in the air, doing one of the things he loved, blowing off steam by flying. As he was about to throw the Quaffle through a goal, the sun reflected off something shiny. He looked down to the pitch and noticed a student on it. '_Who would be out on the pitch at this time of day, students should be in classes at this point_.' He thought to himself, '_Though she is very pretty in an understated way. Wait what… SHE IS A STUDENT!' _his mind was telling him. He slowed down and flew lower to the ground so he could see what she was doing on the pitch. '_Ok, so she is sitting down, now she is looking in her bag, wait… what the bloody hell…. She just took a book out of her bag… is that girl really reading on the quidditch pitch_.' Marcus thought. He flew to the ground and dismounted quietly so as not to disturb her. He walked towards her as quietly as he could, just as he was about to open his mouth to let her know he was there….

"Professor Flint, if I were you I would not want to sneak up on unsuspecting students, especially those who are the brightest of their age. You see I knew the moment you landed and I have had my wand at the ready ever since." Hermione informed him and to prove her point she lifted her hand that had her wand in it.

"Well… Ok. Could you please inform me as to why you are on the Quidditch pitch instead of in class?" Professor Flint asked her. He had a sneer on his face as he looked at her and he was trying hard not to smile at her.

"Well **_Professor_ **I am in class. I have flying with you this hour. Did Headmistress McGonagall not inform you of this?" Hermione shot back at him with well placed sarcasism.

"For your information, no she did not. But if what **_you_ **say is true, then let us begin." Professor Flint turned on his heal and walked back to the middle of the pitch. "Well are you coming or not?"

"Uhmm…. Ye es. Just to inform you I do not like to fly and am sacred of heights." Hermione hesitated in answering him and was really reluctant to let him know of her fear, he was a former Slytherin.

"You should not have told me you were scared. I can use that to my advantage." Professor Flint informed her. "But being I am a nice guy, I will over look it. Now I am sure that you remember the basic's from first year. But just as a refresher you put your hand over the broom and say up. Once you have done that you mount the broom and lean forward slightly to go forward and pull up on the handle to fly up higher."

"**_I remember." _**Hermione replied. "You will be in the air with me just in case correct."

"Yes, I will fly right next to you." Professor Flint said.

"Ok, let's get on with the lesson then." Hermione then walked over to the broom supplied for her and held her hand out, said up and mounted the broom. She went up a few feet in the air and leaned forward slightly to start to fly. After a few minutes something unexpected happened, the Whomping Willow hit a bird that was flying to close to it and it flew straight at Hermione. She leaned to avoid getting hit by the bird and ended up losing her grip on the broom and started to fall.

Professor Flint saw this and flew over to her and caught her before she fell completely off the broom. He lifted her on to his broom and flew them down to the ground. He was trying to concentrate on making sure she was ok and not the way she felt in his arms.

Hermione was trying to do the same thing; all she wanted to do was get off the broom and away from Flint as the closeness of him was starting to make her lightheaded. She did not like the effect he was having on her.

"Miss Granger, are you ok? Do I need to bring you to the Hospital Wing?" Flint asked Hermione. He was really worried, because she had a faraway look in her eye and it was taking awhile for her to respond to him. So he put his hand on her arm to try and get her attention.

"What the hell was that stupid tree thinking hitting that bird over here, I mean why the hell is that thing still allowed to be on the grounds. If I was the head mistress I would have that bloody menace removed. It could have seriously hurt me. And what do you find so amusing **_PROFESSOR_**!" Hermione started to rant and rave, she was terrified from her almost fall, this was why she hated flying. But it was a new year and by the end of it she will have concurred this fear.

"Well, your face is all scrunched up and you're very red in the face. It has a very cute effect…. Well what I meant was that… never mind! Lesson over, we will continue tomorrow." With that Flint left Hermione standing there looking after him and walked to the locker room under the pitch. '_Stupid Stupid, yeah why not just tell her how beautiful you think her to be while your at it, you stupid stupid man. How could you let that slip out… SHE IS A STUDENT… keep telling you self that! SHE IS A STUDENT_!' Flint was berating himself as he walked to the locker room.

Hermione was sitting in the Great Hall during lunch, when Ginny came and sat down next to her.

"Hey Hermione, so how have your lesson's been going?" Ginny asked her.

"Good, I have most of them with the Slytherin's but other then that ok. It is a little weird walking down the corridors though, you would think that the boys in this school have never seen a girl. All day they have stopped to stare at me or opened doors, even a couple have pulled out a chair for me in class. I just don't understand what the fuss is about." Hermione told Ginny. She was confused at the behavior of the boys since she got back to school. But she was glad that Ginny had no brought up the flying lesson.

"Hermione, they are just not used to seeing you in all your beauty. You'll get used to the attention and the boys will eventually calm down and the novelty of your new look will wear off." Ginny was pretty sure what she said was true. Boy's had short attention spans and girls always tried to outdo each other so in another week or so something would come up to overshadow Hermione's new look.

As they were discussing their days in details, Harry and Ron come over and sat down next to them. Harry leaned over and gave Ginny a kiss on the head, Ron just glared at him and then they both turned to Hermione.

"So, Hermione, how was flying this morning with **_Flint_**?" Harry asked her.

"It went ok, I made it a few feet off the ground, before.."

"What do you mean before… before what… What did that git do to you?" Ron interrupted her and was getting red in the face, classic sign that he was mad.

"As I was saying before you interrupted me, the Whomping Willow hit a bird, that flew in my direction and I almost fell off the broom. But no harm, Professor Flint caught me before I fell to the ground." Hermione finished explaining to them. But at the mention of Flint's name she did blush just slightly, which Ginny noticed and would have to talk to her about later.

"What do you mean he caught you? You mean to tell me that he had his arms around you?" Ron was at this point speechless and when Harry asked these questions he went pale and really quiet.

"Yes, Harry that is exactly what I mean, it was not big deal." Hermione informed them. '_Yeah no big deal, you just keep replaying how it felt to have his arms around you and how close you two were. Or how he smelled of the outdoors and spices. Yeah keep telling yourself it was no big deal_' Hermione Berated herself as the others continued to talk about the day, as Harry figured it best to leave that subject alone.

For the rest of lunch Hermione tried not to look at the Professor's table or at Flint and Flint was trying to do the same thing. Finally Hermione grabbed a book out of her bag and read for the rest of the lunch period. As the bell rang to signal the end of lunch, she put her book up and headed out of the Great Hall. On her way to Astronomy, she ran into Flint, literally ran into him and fell on her bottom. He extended his hand to help her up and as she put her hand in his, she felt tingles all up and down her arm. She looked up at him and their eyes met, they just stood there staring at each other for what felt like hours, but in reality was only minutes. Until someone came along and bumped into them.


	3. Tempers and Revelations

**A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter related, just the plot line!**

"Professor Flint whatcha doin in these hall's, I thought you taught flying on the pitch?" Ron asked him in a sarcastic voice.

"20 points from Gryffindor for talking sarcastically to a professor, now I suggest you get on to your lessons before feel the need to take more points due to being late." Flint sneered at Ron.

"Are you coming Hermione? Wouldn't want points taken for you're being late, also!" Ron asked Hermione in an equally sarcastic voice.

"Another 10 points for talking to a fellow student who is also a fellow housemate in a sarcastic voice, I would really get going if I were you, I may take more points for you just being a Gryffindork!" Flint at this point really just wanted Ron to leave; he never really liked the Weasel.

"Ron, I will catch up with you, I need to talk to Flin...Professor Flint for a moment about our next lesson." Hermione told Ron, hoping to hurry him along, she knew he would not like it but she did not care.

Ron walked off in a huff. Hermione turned back to Flint and she started to open her mouth to talk to him, but he beat her to it.

"30 points to Gryffindor House, for getting the Weasel to leave us alone, at least for now." Flint said to Hermione with a smile on his face.

"Well, that was very nice of you Professor, but that is no reason to give someone points." Hermione replied in a soft voice.

"I am a professor and can give anyone points for anything I please. I do not like the Weasel." Professor Flint replied. "Well, Ms. Granger, I think that you should be getting on to class, don't you?"

"Uhmm… Yes I should, but about my flying lessons. Next time can we take it a bit slower, I really do not feel like almost falling again?" Hermione asked him uncertainly.

"Sure, next time we only stay 5 feet off the ground." Flint promised her.

Hermione was getting the hang of flying after a few weeks and Professor Flint was not so bad a teacher. He was patient with her and made sure that they went as fast or as slow as she wanted. The only down fall to the lessons where her friends, they did not understand why she was still taking them from Professor Flint. Ron was the worst, he thought that he should be the one to teach her, he really just wanted the alone time with Hermione and he thought it was about time he got some. So, one day after dinner he went looking for Hermione. Unfortunately he could not find her in any of her usual places; she was not in the common room, the library or the kitchen. He spotted the Slytherin Quidditch team coming in to the castle from the pitch and hide in a corner; he did not want to deal with them right now, better to stay hidden.

"Hey, did you notice the Mudblood at practice today. Wonder what she was doing watching us? Though I hear she is taking flying lessons from Flint. Wonder why that is? You would think with her best friend being the Boy Who Lived, he would teach her or the little Weasel of hers?" One of the Slytherin's said to the rest of the team.

"Yeah I know, and it looked like she was writing in something, maybe she was taking notes or maybe she was spying for the Gryindorks team." Another one said.

"Well, whatever the reason, it will be interesting to see her at this upcoming match, wonder who she will cheer for, them or us."

Ron could not believe what he was hearing; his Hermione was watching a Slytherin practice, why though. He had many thoughts running through his head and the more he thought the more upset he got. After the Slytherin's walked off, he returned to the common room and sat down on the couch. Harry and Ginny noticed that something had upset him.

"Ron, you ok? You look upset about something. Did you find Hermione?" Ginny asked her brother in a concerned tone.

"No, I did not FIND her, but I know where she's been. She was out on the Quidditch pitch watching the Slytherin's practice. Why the bloody hell would she want to watch them practice, Their Slytherin's and Professor Flint is their head of house. That's it, Flint did something to her. Have you noticed how she no longer hangs out with us, with the exception of meals? What the bloody hell is going on with her." Ron ranted at Harry and Ginny. They were the only ones left in the common room, but he really did not care if the whole Gryffindor House was to hear him. While he ranted Hermione walked in.

"Hey, Ron what are you yelling about? What happened?" Hermione asked them, she was in a good mood, but that changed when she walked in to her Ron yelling about something.

"Well, if it isn't the little traitor. What do you want?" Ron asked her in a nasty voice with a sneer on his face.

"Excuse me! Traitor! What are you going on about Ron? Ginny what does he mean by that." Hermione was really shocked to hear this from him.

Ron just stared at her and would not answer, so Ginny thought it best if she explained what Ron was talking about.

"Well, Hermione, Ron thinks that you went to the dark side. He went looking for you earlier and he over hear some Slytherin's talking about you watching their practice." Ginny rushed to tell her, hoping that Hermione would not get to upset with her or Ron.

"Well, if that is all, it is simple really. Today during my lesson with Professor Flint, I had told him how I liked to watch the Gryffindor practices and try to pick up some tips on flying. He thought it was a great idea and suggested that I come watch the Slytherin's practice, in the thought that I might pick up some different techniques. There really is no reason to freak out about it." Hermione patiently explained to them. To her it was a sound reason and one that made sense. She was not sure why Ron was getting all bent out of shape.

"Oh, is that all Hermione. So **_YOUR PROFESSOR_** thought that it would be a good idea and you just went along with it. What if it was a set up? I don't trust him and neither should you!" Ron yelled at her, he was so mad about the whole thing that he grabbed his stuff and walked off.

"I don't understand how he can be so mad about this." Hermione felt tears come to her eyes and she just wanted to get away. Since she did not share a common room with them anymore, she left and made her way back to her Heads common room.

Once inside the Heads common room, she sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace. It was quiet for once in the room. Normally Draco had most of the Quidditch team over after a practice. But, she was glad that no one seemed to be around. Hermione got up and went to her room to grab a blanket and a pillow. When she walked back out to lay down on the couch Draco walked in with someone right behind him.

"Hey, Granger, whatcha doin? I thought you would be in the Gryffindork's Common room telling them all our secrets." Draco spat at her, which was not like Draco. They had been getting on better since they both shared the living space, but she guessed that maybe she had over stepped a bound by going to the practice tonight.

"Malfoy, really we are back to last names. Well just to inform you, I did go to their common room and it got to be too much so I came back here to relax." Hermione looked at him and noticed the person standing behind him. "Oh, uhmm… Hi! If you will excuse me I will just leave you two alone. I need to get to sleep anyways." As she gathered her stuff, she felt the tears start to fall. Angry that they decided to spill over her now she swiped at them as she turned to go to her room.

"Wait, Hermione what happened? Why are you crying? What did that Weasel do to you now?" Draco asked her, he was concerned about her, she never cries.

"Hey, it's nothing, Drake. Ron just yelled at me for being at your practice and he called me a traitor. Nothing I can't handle, I tried to explain to him it was part of my flying lesson, but you know Ron, he didn't listen. I will be fine; I just need to go to sleep. Night, Drake! Night, Flint!" Hermione walked out of the common room and went to her room, climbed into bed and went to sleep.

"Drake? Since when do you let people give you a nickname?" Flint asked Draco, it was interesting to watch Draco and Hermione. Draco really did not care about anyone or their feelings and to see him actually care that Weasel hurt Hermione's feelings was interesting. He was not too happy that she was crying. It was time to plan how they would take the Weasel out in the upcoming match.

**A/N: I know this is slow going but it will pick up in the coming chapters. Please leave a review as I love to know what you think of this story so far!**


	4. A New Slytherin

Saturday dawned bright and early for all the quidditch players, but Hermione was still in bed. She was upset with Ron still, it was not like she was dating anyone on the Slytherin team, and she just went there for research. But she did not want to dwell on it as it was Quidditch today and if Ron thought something was going on with her and the Slytherin's well then, today would be a good day to sport her new personality as well as her looks.

So Hermione got up, went into the bathroom, took a shower and when she was done she walked back into her room and went to her closet.

"What to wear, it is a Saturday so no uniform, but how much to I want to upset my housemates. Well here goes nothing!" With that being said, she pulled on a pair of snug silver leather pants, a green jumper that when she lifted her arms it should a toned tummy, she pulled her hair into a ponytail, slipped on a pair of green and silver converses, applied some makeup and as she walked out of her room she was putting on silver hoop earrings and a necklace with a snake pendant. '_Let them think what they want. I am supporting the Head Boys' team in a show of house unity, if it pisses Ron off in the processes then so be it_.' Hermione thought to herself as she walked down to the Great Hall.

The students that Hermione passed could not believe that it was her they were passing. They never thought they would see the day that Hermione "Bookworm" Granger would wear leather pants and Slytherin colors. They noticed that she was heading towards the Great Hall, so they followed weather they had just left there or not. As she opened the door and walked in, Draco was walking out with a smirk on his face as they figured out how to take out the Weasel with minimal damage, but stopped when he noticed what Hermione was wearing.

"'Mione, what the bloody hell, you can't walk in here dressed like this. I know that yesterday the Weasel said something's that upset you, but come on 'Mione?" Draco tried to reason with her. He knew she was still upset from last night, but this was too much, even for him. She looked hot, but he did not want her to lose her friends over this.

"Drake, it will be ok. If they can't understand that I am in favor of house unity and that this is what I am doing, then bully for them." Hermione responded to him, just as Ron and Harry came up to her.

"DRAKE, you are calling this piece of ferret scum DRAKE?" Ron yelled at her. 'First we find out that you are taking flying lessons from Flint, second we find out that you are watching Slytherin Quidditch practices and NOW, you are walking around wearing their colors in skin tight clothes that make you look like a who…!" Before Ron could finish that sentence he had a wand in his face.

"I would watch how you talk to the Head Girl, Mr. Weasley. I would **_hate_** to deduct points before the match. I for one think that Ms. Granger looks nice on this fine day, don't you Drake?" Professor Flint had seen the confrontation about to take place as Hermione walked in the door wearing that outfit and he did not want her upset than she already was.

"I have to agree with you Professor Flint, 'Mione looks very good in her outfit. Now if you will excuse me I have a Quidditch match to warm up for. 'Mione after you grab something to eat, you wanna take a fly around the pitch before the game let me know." With that Draco walked out of the Great Hall and out to the Quidditch pitch, he felt bad for leaving Hermione there to deal with the aftermath by herself, but he knew that if he did not leave than he would have hexed Weasel to an inch of his life.

"Ron, I am not sure why you are upset. I am only showing house unity! There is nothing more to it than that. And as for why I call Draco is Drake is because we are somewhat friends. I realize that you may not like him or approve of our friendship, but I really don't care. Now if you will excuse me, I am going to get something to eat and head out to the pitch. Professor Flint, thank you for coming over here to defuse the issue. I will see you both out on the pitch." Hermione headed for the Gryffindor table, picked up an apple, turned around and headed out the door, as she approached the door Professor Flint offered her his arm and she took it, they walked out of the Great Hall arm n' arm.

"What the bloody hell just happened here, Harry. I mean that is not the Hermione we know and love. Why is she calling Malfoy Drake? And why is she being so nice to professor Flint. I just don't understand her. Since we got back to school this year, she has been different, she changed." Ron whined to Harry. Harry was still staring at the spot where Hermione just stood. He tended to agree with Ron on this one.

At the pitch, Flint walked Hermione to the Gryffindor stands. She hesitated before she turned to him and motioned to the Slytherin side. Flint gave her an unsure look, but she just scowled at him and he walked her to the other side of the pitch. They found a spot where they could see the whole pitch and also be seen by the Gryffindor's.

"Hermione, are you sure you want to do this? I mean I understand that Weasel upset you last night by saying what he did, but is it wise to 'in away turn away from your house'?" Flint asked her as they sat down on the bench.

"Last night after I went to my room, I got to thinking. My looks have changed this year, but everyone still sees me as the 'know it all – bookworm', I don't want to be known as that for my last year here at Hogwarts. I want to stand out this year, try new things and be myself that no one has seen. Yes, I love books and that is who I am too, but I am also a risk taker. And I want my friends to see that side." Hermione explained to Flint. "I want to be known as the girl who became the voice for house unity, house elves rights and a bunch of other things this year. So, I decided last night that I would start with House Unity and here I am."

"Well, yes, here you are. The Gryffindor Princess slumming it with us Slytherin's, how daring of you?" Pansy spat at her. "I don't know what you think you are doing sitting over here with us, but I think you need to leave now."

"Pansy, shut up! I think it is great that 'Mione is sitting here, cheering me on!" Draco spat back at Pansy, with a smile to Hermione.

"Thanks, Drake! Good luck out there today!" Hermione cheered at Draco.

"No luck needed. It's all in the skills I got!" Draco replied in an arrogant voice. "Hey, Zabini, will you keep an eye on 'Mione here for me? Flint you need to get down here and start this thing."

"Sure, Draco, I can keep an eye on her, an arm too if she will let me." Blaise Zabini reached an arm around Hermione as he replied to Draco. But he got two sets of eye glaring at him for his effort, so he removed his arm and sat back to watch the match.

"Just keep your hands and anything else to yourself, alright!" Flint told him as he walked down to the pitch to start the match.

"A little protective, huh?" Blaise asked Hermione.

"Just a little, but it's been like that for a while now." Hermione informed him.

Blaise was going to say something else, but at that moment Flint repeated the rules of the match and released the Quaffles, the Bludgers and the Snitch. The match had started.

**A/N: Sorry I am not too good with the commentary of a Quidditch match and I know that this is a bit of a cliff hanger, but please hang in there with me. Also, please review as I love to know what you think of the story so far.**


	5. Parties and Letters

Slytherin won 350 to 120; they were throwing a party in their common room to celebrate the victory. Draco was hoping that Hermione would come, since she supported them during the match and they were getting be really good friends. So he was a little disappointed when he walked into their common room and she was already in her pajama bottoms and a tank top.

"'Mione, I thought you would come to the party with me in Slytherin common room?" Draco asked her with a pout.

"I think that I have done enough damage to my friendship with Ron and Harry that I will pass on the party, at least this one." Hermione refused to look at Draco when she spoke. She did not want to the tears in her eyes or know how upset she really was over the whole thing with Ron.

"If that is what you want. I will check in on you later." Draco turned and left the common room. On his way to the dungeons he passed Professor Flint walking up from them.

"Hey, Flint would you do me a favor and try to cheer 'Mione up tonight. She seems a little down and I think that things with Ron are making her more upset than she wants anyone to know." Draco asked Flint with concern lacing his voice.

"Sure! Anything for Hermione, she has turned out to be one of my favorite students. I hate to see her upset over that Weasel." Flint's voice took on a hard edge when he said Weasel. He was really beginning to hate that kid.

So, Flint walked to the Heads common room and said the pass word to the portrait and walked in to see Hermione on the couch crying her eyes out. He walked over to her and pulled her on to his lap, wrapped his arms around her and let her cry it all out. About fifteen minutes of her crying, she finally stopped and dried her eyes on Flint's shirt.

"Thanks, Flint. I really needed that. But, you should be down with your House celebrating the win. I cannot in good conscious let you stay here and wallow in self-pity with me." Hermione told him.

"Well then, I guess that you will just have to come with me. I mean, you did help us when. If you had not worn what you did today, Weasel would not have been distracted and we would not have been able to score on him." Flint told her with a hint of humor in his voice.

"I guess, I could go for a little while, but it will not become a habit. People will think that I have gone to the dark side." Hermione replied with humor lacing her voice more than Flints.

So, she got up, dressed in a similar outfit as earlier, but she had on gold leather pants, maroon colored jumper that was snug in all the right places and to top it off, she grabbed Draco's Slytherin scarf and tied it around her neck. 'There the best of both, I think this will become my new look.' She thought to herself. Hermione and Flint made it to the Slytherin common room with no mishaps and Hermione had a wonderful time. She danced with almost all of the Slytherin boys and although some were rude, most were very nice and friendly. She realized that she had more things in common with the girls of Slytherin house, than she did with the girls in her own house. As the night progressed, most of the kids were waiting for her to say something about calling it a night, but she never did. At around two in the morning, Hermione finally said goodnight to the whole Slytherin house and Draco walked her to their common room. They said good night went to sleep.

The next morning, Hermione woke up feeling really good. She was no longer upset about the whole Ron and Harry thing and she was actually really happy about her life for once. There were no Death Eaters to worry about, no Slytherin's to harass her and most importantly, no fear of flying. It was going to be a wonderful rest of the school year, and the winter holidays were almost here. She walked down to the Great Hall, students were still staring, but she was getting used to it. Today she wore a silver mini skirt over gold leggings, a pair of knee high black boots, with a green jumper that just barely covered her stomach and to top it off, she was wearing Draco's Slytherin scarf again with her own Gryffindor one. As she walked into the Great Hall, instead of going to the Gryffindor table like usual, she walked over to the Slytherin table and sat next to Daphne Greengrass. She filled her plate with all her favorite food and began to eat, she was well aware of all the whispers about what she had done, but she did not care and all the Slytherin's were glaring at anyone who looked wrong at her.

It was any unusual way to start her day, but it was really nice, because none of the Slytherin's asked her to either help or do their homework. As the day went on, it stayed the same way, no came up to her with anything bad to say, though they talked about her behind her back. When the day was over, she went to her common room and had a nice talk with Draco till it was time to go to bed, she said goodnight and went to bed.

The next couple of months went by pretty much the same way, she would get up get dressed in her uniform on the week days and on weekends she would wear a combination of Slytherin and Gryffindor colors, she would hang out with the Slytherin's most days, every now and then Ginny would hang out with her, but not as much as she used to. She found out that Daphne really liked Draco and so she went about hooking the two of them up, which worked out wonderfully as Draco like Daphne as well. As the winter holiday was approaching, she was trying to figure what she would do, normally she went home for a week and then went to Burrow, but this year was going to be different.

"Hey, 'Mione whatcha doing for the holiday this year, I know you normally go to the Weasel's house, but I thought you could come to mine this year." Daphne asked her.

"I think that would be great. I will owl my parents and see if it is ok? Gotta run though, flying lesson with Flint!" Hermione ran off to the Quidditch pitch so she would not be late.

"Hey, what is the rush?" Draco asked her as she slammed into him just before she got to the pitch.

"Flying….Flint…. gotta go!" Hermione wheezed out as she was out of breath running the whole way.

"I think it will be ok if your late, Flint say's you're his favorite." Draco replied to her.

"Nice… to… know… bye!" With that Hermione ran the rest of the way to the pitch. As she got there she noticed that Flint seemed preoccupied with something in his hand.

"Flint, hey sorry I'm late. I was talking with Daphne about the holiday break." Hermione got the impression that he was not listening to her. "FLINT!"

"Oh,.. Hey Hermione. Sorry, I got this letter from the Puddlemere United. They want me to join their team." Flint told Hermione with a sadness and wistfulness in his voice. "I like teaching, but I love Quidditch. I don't know what to do. But enough of that, we have a lesson to get on with."

"Yes, we do. I thought for this one, you could teach me how to play Quidditch?" Hermione asked him and was surprised when his face split into a huge grin.

"I would love to teach you how to play Quidditch. Let's get started." And with that he taught her how to play every position in Quidditch. After the lesson, he informed her that he would be at the Greengrass' holiday party and could not wait to see her there.

The rest of the two weeks went by faster than Hermione would have liked and the next thing she knew it was the day before they all left for winter holiday. As she was packing her stuff an owl landed outside her window. Hermione opened the window and the bird flew in, it landed on her desk and extended its leg, Hermione removed the letter and the bird flew off.

_Dear Hermione, _

_We know that you were looking forward to coming home for the holidays and we would love for you to be home for them, the unfortunate thing is, is that we have a convention that we need to attend. We have tried everything we can to get out of it, but it is impossible to do. We have written to the Weasely's to see if you can stay with them until you go to your friend Daphne's, but they refused, so we are hoping that Daphne will not mind you staying at her house. We are terribly sorry about this honey._

_ Love,_

_ Mum and Dad_

Hermione sat there staring at the letter, until Daphne came up to get her for the evening meal. Hermione explained the problem and Daphne said it was no problem, she would inform her parents and that would be it. So they went down to the Great Hall to eat. The next day they all departed for the platform at Hogsmeade and boarded the Hogwarts Express. Hermione was determined to have a wonderful holiday.

**A/N: Thank you to all of those who have read this and stuck with me. Please review, good, bad or indecisive.**


	6. Ride to Kings Cross Station

The ride to the Kings Cross was uneventful, Hermione and her new friends had a compartment to themselves and she did not see Ron or Harry. Daphne was trying to keep Hermione's mind off her problems with Harry and Ron, so she was telling her about all the things they could do over the holiday.

"I was thinking that we could go into muggle London to get our dress for the holiday party my parents are throwing this year. I don't have many excuses to go to muggle London and it will be nice to go there. I bet you know all the best places to shop." Daphne continued her speak about all the places they could go in muggle London and what they could see. She was getting more excited as she talked. Hermione just sat there and listened with half an ear.

"Daph, that is great, but will you excuse for a minute?" Hermione left the compartment and headed to find an empty one, but she could not find one that was unoccupied. She kept looking and what she found was a little better.

"Hey, Professor, you mind if I join you in your compartment?" Hermione asked the occupant of the compartment.

"Of course. I would love to share the compartment with my favorite student, soon to be ex-student." Professor Flint said to her.

"Thanks, I just need some quiet for a bit. Hope you don't mind. It's been a hard couple of months and I would love to have a clear head for the holidays." Hermione explained to Flint, even though she did not have to, he had seen all the things going on with her.

"No need to explain, I understand. I have something's to think about myself, that is why I am sitting alone. You know about the letter I received to join Puddlemere, but I still do not know what I want to do." Flint need to talk to someone about this and Hermione was always great at listening. "I love being a professor, but Quidditch is my life. If I leave Hogwarts now and it falls through with Puddlemere what will I do then and if I stay at Hogwarts will I have regrets about not playing for Puddlemere. See I am so confused."

"Well, have you talked with McGonagall about this, I am pretty sure that she would let you take off to pursue your Quidditch career and let you come back to teach if it fell through." Hermione explained to him. "Please talk with McGonagall about this before you decide. When you get home write her a letter and ask. For me please!"

"Yes, 'Mione, for you I will write to McGonagall and see if she will let me come back if Quidditch does not work out." Flint told her.

"Good! Now I want tickets to most of your matches. Promise you will get me in to see your matches or at least a practice or two!" Hermione pleaded with him and batted her eye lashes at him in a flirty way. She figured since he no longer was her Professor, she could flirt just a little with him.

"I promise, 'Mione, I will get you in to see a match or practice."

"Good, now I am kinda tired, I'm going to take a nap." And with that she curled up on her seat, used her robe as a pillow and fell asleep.

Flint watched her for a bit, thinking how things could be different now that he was no longer going to be a teacher. You see he had liked Hermione for a while, but because he was a Professor he could not let his feelings for her show. But over the holiday he was going to try and see if she felt the same way about him. He noticed Hermione shiver and took his robe and put it over her so she would be warm and as he went to sit back down, Draco walked into the compartment.

"Hey, have you seen…" Draco trailed off as he noticed Hermione sleeping on the bench in the compartment. "Never mind I found her. How long has she been asleep, Daphne was hoping to talk to her some more about what to expect over the holiday at a 'Pureblood's House', but I guess that will have to wait."

"Hey, mate; just thought I would let you know, I will not be returning after the holiday. I got accepted to play for Puddlemere and I am going to take the position. I am writing to McGonagall to let her know. Also, I am going to try to convince Hermione to date me. What do you think?" Flint kind of rambled it, but he knew that he would not have been able to say it otherwise.

"I think that is great, I expect tickets to all the matches though. Also, when there is a victory party you will get me out of school to go to it!" Draco promptly informed him. "Also, you hurt her and I will come after you!" With that he turned and left the compartment to go find Daphne to tell her the news.

A/N: I would love reviews!


	7. Greengrass Manor

Chapter 7 Greengrass Manor

A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter related. I just like to play around with the characters. Also a Thank You to Himali for the review of the last chapter.

The train was about to pull into the station, Flint thought it would be a good idea to wake Hermione up.

He sat on the bench next to her and brushed her hair off her face; he leaned down and whispered in her ear to wake up. She stirred a little and stretched out on the bench, Flint whispered in her ear again, she swatted at his face.

Finally Flint stood up and walked across the compartment and yelled out:

"HERMIONE WAKE UP YOUR LATE FOR CLASS!"

"Whaa... huh... Marcus why would you do that!" Hermione huffed at him.

"Because you are so cute when you get all huffy" Flint told her.

"Whatever Flint!"

"Oh, I went from Marcus to Flint. Well I see how it's going to be! Guess you don't love me anymore!"

"That's not what I meant. I still love you... I mean umm yea!" Hermione stumbled after that unintended slip and she started to blush.

"Oh... so you do love! That's nice to know. Well... we are pulling into the station. I should go make sure all the students are getting ready to depart" Flint walked out of the compartment and down the aisle.

Hermione remained in the compartment thinking about what she just let slip to Flint. She really did not mean for that to slip, she really needed to talk with Daphne about what just happened. She walked out of the compartment and down the aisle in search of Daphne. She was half way down it when a door slid open and out walked Ron and Harry. They did not even look at her; they just turned away and walked off. She felt hurt, yeah she had said something to them and they had really hurt her with things they said, but she still thought of them as friends. But there was not much she could do about it know. So she continued on to find Daphne. Finally at the front of the train there was Daphne, Blaise, Draco and Marcus, her favorite people at the moment. She slipped into the compartment, sat next to Marcus and laid her head on his shoulder, listening to the conversation going on around her. This was what she liked best about them, she could not see them for hours and when she finally did, they never asked anything of her. They just let her sit, lay or stand and listen to their conversations, if she felt like joining in she could or if she just wanted to stay quiet that was fine to. At the mention of the party that they would all attend Hermione sat up.

"What was that about it was a pureblood party? Umm... will it matter if I am not one...? Daph...should I plan to be somewhere else at that time or would it be ok if I just stayed upstairs in your room. I don't want to make your parents mad!" Hermione stuttered and stammered as she started to feel really upset at this, she thought that they were different and it would not matter to them that she was a muggle born.

"Mione, it's not like that anymore. We describe it as a pureblood party, but really every type of witch or wizard is invited. Sorry but my parents felt the need to invite the "Boy Who Would Not Die" and his side kick the Weasel. I asked them if we could un-invite them but they said no." Daphne informed Hermione. She felt really bad, she knew how much they had hurt Hermione the last couple of months, just because she made new friends and changed the way she looked.

"It's ok, I will still have you guy's there to keep me company and not let them bother me. I do have a question though; do I need to find a date for the party though?" Hermione asked this last bit a little hesitantly. She was kind of hoping that someone in the compartment would take the hint.

"No you don't, but if you know of someone that you would like to take, please feel free to invite them. But I do know that if you bring someone as your date, there will be some disappointed guy's at the party. Mainly Slytherin's but hey they are the best kind." Daphne let her know.

She was hoping that Hermione would not invite anyone as she was hoping that she and Marcus would end up together as they made a cute couple and Marcus was no longer a teacher.

"Ok, so I won't invite anyone." Hermione told everyone. Which at this announcement Marcus let out the breath he was holding. The train finally pulled into the station and they all departed wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and that they would see each other at the party.

Hermione and Daphne stepped off the train to be greeted by Daphne's parents. They hugged Daphne and she introduced them to Hermione who was then squished by Mrs. Greengrass in a very Mrs. Weasley kind of hug. After that they departed the station and apparated to Greengrass Manor.

Hermione could not believe her eyes when she first saw the Manor, it was huge, at least four stories high and it had towers on either side. On either side of the driveway leading up to the manor there were trees evenly spaced out with little bushes in between them. On the right

Side of the drive there was a pond with a bridge that ended at an island in the middle of the pond, but which really looked like a lake. On the left side there was a large lawn neatly manicured with trees in the shapes of dragons, hippogriff's and thesteral's. As they got to the front there were stairs leading up to the doors, at the bottom of the stairs there was all different kinds of flowers in the beds and there were potted plants next to the base of the stairs and at the doors.

As they walked into the manor, Hermione could not believe her eyes, the doors opened to a huge foyer with black marble floors, tall plants, flowers on stands, the ceiling had a painting of clouds with cupids on it, on either side of the foyer were stairs leading up to the second floor.

If you went straight and then left you would end up in the sitting room or more commonly known as a drawing room or salon, in the manor it was the Green room as it was decorated in all shades of green. It had a claw foot couch that was formal and stiff, the chairs that sat opposite it were the same. The curtains were ceiling to floor dark green suede with light green leafs on them. There was a coffee table and two end table with lamps on them, some knick knacks and odds and ends, but the end result was a beautifully decorated sitting room. If you went to the right you would find the dining room which was decorated in silver and black. There was a long table that sat twelve with high backed chairs, the chairs had a Celtic design carved on the backs of each, the table had the same design on the table, and there was a runner on the table that was silver with a black Celtic design on it. The curtains were black suede with silver Celtic designs throughout them, and there were pictures of wizards and witch's on the walls. If you have kept going straight you have found the kitchens, where the house elves worked. When you walk up the stairs and take a left you would enter the master chambers, which Hermione was told she was not to enter on any uncertain terms.

So they went up the stairs and to the right, walked down a hallway lined with family photos and walked up another set of stairs and at the top of the stairs it was an open area with doors on either side, it was the same size as the main floor. The first door on the right was the guest room

where Hermione would be staying, it was done up in a combination of Gryffindor and Slytherin colors, which surprised Hermione, but Daphne explained that the rooms took on the colors of the person occupying the room and since Hermione was in Gryffindor and she was friends with the

Slytherin's then it was a combination of both. The bed was a king size bed with a silver bottom sheet, a maroon top sheet, a gold and green blanket and her pillows each had on cover of each color. There was a window seat that over looked the back yard which had a soft, squishy, comfy cushion to sit on and multiple pillows and blankets to cover up with and get comfy to read on of the many books that line the wall to the left of the window seat to the right of the window seat there was a bookshelf full of muggle movies. On the wall opposite the bed was a huge flat screen TV. Mounted to the wall with a shelf under it that held a DVD player and a stereo system that had speakers placed around the room. To the left of the TV. Was a door that led to the bathroom, which had a stand up shower, hot tube, double sink and a toilet. To the right of the TV, was the huge walk in closet that held all of Hermione's clothes that she packed for the holiday and a whole bunch more that she had no idea where they came from.

The second door on the right was huge closet with extra blankets, pillows, sheets and towels. The first door on the left was Daphne's room which was very similar to Hermione's minus that it was done completely in Slytherin colors. The open space between the walls when you first came up the stairs had couches, chairs and tables everywhere; it was like a family room but for teenagers and young adults. On the back wall of the space there was a

door that led to a stairway that went up to the roof of the manor, which had a Jacuzzi tub, pool, lounge chairs, a walled in room with floor to ceiling windows that held a TV., DVD player and huge selection of DVDs' to watch. To Hermione this was the best place to have a holiday at, she could not believe that she was staying here, let alone with her new best friend that just happened to be a Slytherin and she was going to a ball. This was going to be one amazing time; she just hoped that nobody ruined it.

A/N: Please leave a review! I know that the chapters have been short but they will get longer. I like all good or bad reviews. The next chapter will contain the ball and little bit a Daphne's parents and family, some more of Ron and Harry being gits and a kiss!


	8. The Party

Chapter 8 The Party

A/N:I do realize that as I type this chapter and a few others that it is the middle of summer here in the U.S., but as I started this story months ago when it was still winter here, I feel that I should keep up the story line. Also, I do not own anything Harry Potter related.

Hermione's holiday vacation was going wonderful. Daphne's parents were great towards her, they did not comment on her blood or the fact that she was sorted into Gryffindor; they just accepted her for her. Hermione and Daphne hung out at the Greengrass Manor for the first couple of days of holiday and then they decided to go to Diagon Alley and do some last minute Christmas shopping. They flooed to Flourish & Blotts, so that Hermione could look at the new books that came in over the last couple of months, then  
they set off to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Daphne wanted to buy a new dress robe for the party that her parents were holding on that weekend. Hermione decided that since she was there she might as well try on a few too, so they set off to the dressing rooms with arms loaded down. They entered the  
same dressing room, much to the shock of the sales ladies. Daphne tried on a silver strapless dress that came to just above her knees and when she twirled it flared out into the shape of a bell. It was really pretty but not the effect she was going for, next she tried on fire engine red halter top dress that fell to the floor with  
a slit up the side where it stopped mid-thigh. This was still not what she wanted, after trying on about twenty more dresses, she finally settled on the dress she wanted. Hermione had the same problem, all the dresses she tried on were not what she wanted, but she did like bits and pieces of certain dresses and so she bought  
three different dresses, she was a witch after she could just make her own out of the three. She could not wait to get back to Greengrass Manor to get started on her dress. She also planned on altering Daphne's as she knew that Daph would love it. After they long morning shopping they stopped in a cafe to get something to eat  
and then they went back to Flourish & Blotts where Hermione found a book on Hair Coloring, Straightening and Other Hair Related Spells. They flooed back to the manor and spent the rest of the night trying new spells on their hair, Hermione brown hair ended up with silver highlights and streaks of green in hers and Daphne's hair  
ended up with silver streaks with green highlights. The girls loved it and it would go great with their dresses, the boys would not know what hit them when the girls walked down to the party together. Which was that Saturday and it being Thursday night they had one day to fix their dresses and put the finishing touches on their accessories.

Hermione that night was feeling sad; she missed the Burrow and all the Weasley's. It was her tradition, besides going home to visit her parents. It was different and even though she would see Harry, Ron, Ginny and most of the Weasley at the party on Saturday it still was not the same. But she would get through it, it was their fault that she was not with them, if they would have just accepted her for who she evolved into over the summer and during the beginning of school, then she could be tucked into bed in Ginny's room and they could be gossiping and sharing secrets. But she was here at the Greengrass Manor and was in her own room, by herself. It was different and in some ways it was nice, but she still missed the Burrow.

The day of the party Hermione and Daphne woke up early, they went down to the kitchens and ate a light breakfast, they then helped Mrs. Greengrass put the finishing touches on the party decorations and made sure that the food was just right, after all this they then went up to Daphne's room and started to get ready. Hermione took a shower first and as she was drying, straightening and putting her hair up into a bun with sparkling butterfly clips placed everywhere and the butterflies where charmed to flutter their wings,  
she then applied her makeup with the rutrum spell that applied the makeup to her face. Daphne then got out of the shower and dried her hair, straightened it and left it down with only the sides pulled up and held with glittering daffodil clips, they were charmed to smell just like the flower. She then used the rutrum spell to apply her makeup and then she slipped into her dress, just as Hermione slipped into hers.

They watched out the window as guests started to arrive and made comments on everyone's evening attire. Somewhere dressed very nicely while others just looked hideous. Hermione noticed when Harry with Ginny on his arm walked up the stairs into the Manor and behind them was Ron with Lavender on his arm, then came the rest of the Weasley's, following them was Draco with his parents and a few people behind them was Marcus and Hermione could not wait to get down there to see him. She was so excited that she would be able to Marcus and dance with him, without worrying about what everyone would think, since he was no longer a teacher. As the clock struck 10 o'clock, Daphne and Hermione headed out of the room and to the top of the staircase where Mr. Greengrass would announce them to the guests.

As all eyes were on them they walked down the stair, Hermione in a dress that was silver on top and slowly faded to a deep green, it was strapless and the top had little butterflies on it in a deep green color and right below her chest the dress fell straight to mid-thigh, when she twirled in it the skirt flared out but never showed anything that it shouldn't. Daphne had on a dress that was the same colors as Hermione's, but hers went from green to silver and it had two little straps holding it up, but instead of stopping mid-thigh it fell straight to the floor, on her sides there were cut outs of a daffodil flower that started just under her arm and the stem ended just above her hip. They were both wearing heels, Daphne had on silver heels which were nothing but straps, while Hermione had on dark green closed toed ones with butterflies on the tops.

Marcus and Draco were talking when Hermione and Daphne were announced and their jaws hit the floor when they saw the two of them. Their girls looked just beautiful, even though Hermione did not realize that she was Marcus' girl, he was hoping that by the end of the night she would be. Draco was lucky enough to have Daphne as his girl already, but he wanted to make sure that everyone at the party knew that they were together, so without much thought he walked over to her as she reached the last step and held his hand out to her. She accepted it and Draco led her to the dance floor for the opening dance. Marcus not to be out done by the younger man, walked up to Hermione and as he held out his hand to her, he bowed low and said "My lady, may I have this dance?" to which Hermione replied "Why yes good sir, you may" and as Marcus led  
her to the dance floor, they were both smiling. Watching the whole thing was Harry, Ginny and Ron, two of them where not happy with the way things were turning out. Ron still had hope that Hermione would come to her senses and realize that he was the one for her and not that Slytherin. Harry was thinking that Marcus was going to hurt her in some way, but Ginny, Ginny knew love when she saw it and oh boy did she it. The night progressed without any problems, Hermione and Marcus danced all night, while Daphne and Draco sat and talked with each other. At one point Marcus asked Hermione to take a walk with him outside. She agreed and they headed outside.

"Hermione, there has been something I wanted to talk with you about for a while now. You see even when I was your professor, I thought you were special and not in the bad way. You were the one bright spot to my day and if my mornings started out bad, I knew that everything would get better, because you would be there soon to make it all better. My afternoons were a little better, but if they were bad, I only had to think of your lesson and it would all go away. Tonight when you walked down those stairs, you took my breath away, you are the most beautiful girl that I have seen, not only that but you are smart, caring, understanding and loyal. The point of all this is I would like to call you mine.  
As in my girlfriend, my woman, my love, my whatever, as long as I can just call you mine." Marcus said all this as he stared into Hermione's eyes and watched all the emotions she was feeling cross her face.

"I don't know what to say, except that if you want to call me yours, I have the right to call you mine. I want it known that you are taken, I don't want to read in the papers that you were spotted with some other girl out and about now that you are going to be a big Quidditch star. I want the exclusive rights to you, your name and your body. If you can agree to that, then yes you can call me yours!" Hermione said all this with a smirk on her face; it was a smirk that she had learned not only from Marcus but from Draco as well.

"I think that I can handle that, 'Mione," Marcus then placed his hands on her waist and pulled her to him. She tilted her head up to look at him and he lowered his head towards her and gently placed his lips against hers in the most tender and gentle kiss that he or she ever had.

"Mine!" Marcus breathed as he captured her lips again, this time it was more demanding and more hungry then the first, but Hermione did not care, she ran her hands up his back to his neck and into his hair. She finally pulled away and said "I think we need to take this upstairs."

A/N: Please let me know what you think so far. Please leave a review, good, bad or whatever.


	9. The Day After

A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter related.

Hermione grabbed Marcus by his tie and lead him into the house and up the stairs. He was not sure what to think about this development in their relationship. He was surprised to say the least but he was not going to stop her at this point, so he let her drag him up the stairs and into her room. Once there though Hermione started to kiss him with a passion he never thought she would have for him. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her to him, he angled his head to deepen the kiss and pushed her up against the wall, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and started to play with the tiny hairs at the base of his neck, which brought goose bumps to Marcus' skin. Marcus moved his hands from her waist to her back, down to her bottom and lifted her up. As he did this she wrapped her legs around his waist and brought her hands around front, where she started to work on the buttons at the front of his shirt. Once all the buttons where undone, she then un-tucked his shirt from his pants and pushed it off of his shoulders. Marcus still had his hands under her bottom and his mouth had moved to the spot just under her ear, he could hear Hermione making little purring noises and moaning. He spun them around and made his way to the bed, where he proceed to lay her down on the bed and rolled her over, so he could unzip the back of her dress, once that was done he rolled her over again and lowered her dress off her body. When it got to her hips she tilted them up just a little so he could get the dress down and off. He took a while to just look at the girl laid out on the bed before him; she was wearing a pair of green lace undies with a matching strapless bra and looked amazing. She was the definition of beautiful, he could not believe that she was here with him at this moment and he wanted this to be right, not just the heat of the moment thing or something similar, he wanted this to mean something, so he did something that he has never done, he got off the bed and walked across the room.

"Marcus is everything OK. Why did you stop? I thought you wanted this! Did I do something wrong?" Hermione asked him, she had scooted up to the head board and covered herself with the blankets.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong. I really want to, but I think that we should do this when it means something. I really like you and I don't want to mess this up. I think that we should just slow down and take it easy. I want this to work between us, I mean I just stopped being your professor and here I am snogging you!" Marcus ran his hand through his hair in frustration. This was not at all how he thought tonight would go!

"Thank you." Hermione said. "Not many men would stop or let alone tell a girl they want to take it slow. I really appreciate it. But if it's not too much trouble, just for tonight, could you stay and sleep with me. I don't want to be alone right now." Hermione asked him.

"Yes, I would like that very much!" Marcus slipped out of his pants and was standing in only his boxer briefs as he walked to the bed and climbed in next to Hermione.

"Hey Superstar think you could grab me your shirt to wear to bed?" Hermione asked Marcus, who laughed and grabbed his shirt.

Hermione pulled the shirt on and took off her bra, crawled under the covers and laid down next to Marcus. He rolled over on to his side and pulled Hermione to him, he wrapped one arm around her waist and the other he tucked under her head. Hermione scooted her bottom back into Marcus and rolled over one her side facing away from him. So that they were spooning, she put one hand over his arm around her waist and the other she linked with his hand under her head. Marcus softly hummed to her as she fell asleep; he watched her sleep until he finally drifted off himself.

"WHAT THE HELL? GET UP AND GET OUT OF HER BED, MARCUS! NOW!"

Both Hermione and Marcus jumped up at the screaming coming from her doorway, they looked over to see who was yelling and to their surprise it was Draco.

"Draco, why are you so mad, mate. I thought you would be happy for us." Marcus was confused, Draco had told him he should go for it with Hermione and now he was mad at finding them in bed together.

"Yeah, I told you to tell her how you feel not sleep with her. She is by best mate and I don't want her to get hurt! Treat her right or you will have to deal with me. Got it!" Draco spat at Marcus, he thought of Hermione as a little sister and no one was going to hurt her anymore then she had already by her so called friends and he knew how Marcus was with girls. He just did not want him to treat her the way he treats all the other girls.

"Draco, its find. Nothing happened between us. I mean it almost happened, but Marcus stopped it before it went too far. We just slept, that was it." Hermione tried to explain to Draco. She did not want Draco to hurt Marcus, he was like her big brother and since the fight with Harry and Ron, and he was really protective of her.

"Nothing happened; you're not lying to me. You can tell me if something happened, if it did Marcus is a dead man." Draco reached out and touched Hermione check in a soft brother caress. "I don't want to see you get hurt. Please for my sake be careful, Mi My."

"I will be. No one can take your place in my heart or life, My Ferret." Hermione told Draco using her nickname for him. Draco had started calling her Mi My and she called him ferret. His nickname used to be an insult to him as he was once turned into one, but the way Hermione said it was in no way an insult.

"Alright, well since we are all up, by the way Daph is waiting downstairs for us; we need to figure out what we are going to do today!" Draco informed them.

"Well, I have to get to work. I need to go check in and get started with the team. I will see you Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and the day before you go back to school. I will make sure that I can get you access to Quidditch practices and the occasional game." Marcus informed them, he could not wait to show Hermione off to his team mates. He got off the bed, got dressed, gave Hermione a kiss and flooed to his house.

Draco had climbed into bed with Hermione the minute Marcus had left, he proceeded to crawl under the covers and Hermione had laid her head on his chest. They stayed that way for a while, just sitting there in the quiet, enjoying each other; unfortunately they ended up falling asleep. Daphne after waiting a good half hour for Draco to wake up Hermione could not take it anymore and headed on up to Hermione's room and that was how she found them, curled up under the covers together. She was furious, Hermione was supposed to be her friend and Draco was supposed to be her boyfriend, how could they do this to her. So being the person she was, she walked over to the bed and slapped Draco across the face.

"Owww... what the hell!" Draco started as he felt something hit is face and it hurt. He looked up and there was Daphne, her eyes were blazing with fire and she was angry. "Daph, what was that for?"

"How could you and with my best friend. I thought that you were different Draco, I thought I could trust you." At this point Daphne broke down and started to cry.

"Ferret, what is all the noise, I want to go back to sleep." Hermione said in a sleepy soft voice as she snuggled closer to Draco.

"Mi My, I think you should wake up so we can explain to Daphne why we are sleeping in the same bed all snuggled together." Draco shook Hermione awake.

"Ferret, what do you mean. I thought... Oh crap... Daph, it's not what you think. Marcus had just left and Ferret came and sat on the bed so we could talk, but we ended up falling asleep. Nothing happened. I spent the night with Marcus and you should know me, let alone Draco better than that. Plus he is the brother I never had. Trust me it is purely platonic." Hermione quickly explained to Daphne.

"Oh thank Merlin. I thought I was going to have to hex you two and then I would be out a boyfriend and a best friend." Daphne laughed at herself and climbed into bed with the two of them. They all ended up falling asleep again and that is what their day consisted of, sleeping and laying in Hermione's bed all day. A couple of days later found them in Diagon Alley and it was not a nice day, as they ran into three people that they were not hoping to see until school started again.

A/N: Hope you all have enjoyed this story so far. Please leave a review and let me know what you think of this story.


	10. Christmas Shopping

A/N: I do not own anything Harry Potter related.

It was now three days until Christmas and Hermione still needed to go to Diagon Alley to finish her shopping, she woke up early and took a shower. When she was done, she twirled her wand over her head and said "capillos arida" to dry her hair, and then she walked out of the bathroom into her room, then the huge walk in closet that held all of her clothes. She unwrapped her towel, stepped into a pair of underwear and a bra, and then proceeded to stand in the closet trying to figure out what to wear. She decided on a pair of dark jean trousers, a white long sleeve under shirt that had a scooped neck line, a deep green jumper with a deep V-neck that went to her just above her belly button, a black belt and black converse shoes, for jewelry she wore a chain with a diamond pendant on it and diamond stud earrings. This outfit was nothing compared to what she had been wearing but it was winter and they would be outside for most of their shopping. She put on a small amount of makeup and just a hint of vanilla body spray with perfume, after she was ready; she walked down to Daphne's room and knocked on the door.

"Hold on I will be out in a minute, Mione." Daphne yelled through the door and sure enough, a minute later Daphne walked out in a denim mini skirt, black leggings, a tight fitting green jumper and a pair of knee high black boots. Her hair was straightened and pulled into a ponytail, her make up us minimal and she had on no jewelry.

"Let's grab breakfast in Diagon Alley, I really want to get started on the shopping I have no idea what to get two certain people and it will probably take all day to find the perfect gifts for them." Hermione informed Daphne.

"Sounds good to me. I have to buy for the same two and maybe we can come up with some ideas that go together or combine our presents somehow." Daphne replied with a smile on her face. She was clueless on what to get Draco; Flint should be easy something for Quidditch.

"Alright let's go then, should we use your floo or mine?" Hermione asked.

"Mine its closer." So with that the girls walked back into Daphne's room and one at a time threw floo powder into the fireplace and said "Diagon Alley".

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They existed the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron and went out the back door, where they tapped the bricks to the entrance to Diagon Alley. They walked down the street a few blocks and found a nice cafe to order breakfast in. They sat down at a table that faced the street; a waitress came over and took their orders. As they were waiting on their food, they sat and watched the people walk by.

"Hey what were you thinking on getting Marcus for the Christmas? I have no idea what to get Draco, he is picking about everything." Daphne knew that Hermione and Draco were closer than most of their friends, even though they had been friends for just a short amount of time. It seemed that all the years they spent fighting and hating each other, they actually learned a lot about each other.

"I was thinking of getting him a necklace with a charmed dragon on it that blew fire at anyone who tried to get close to him. But it would be charmed so that only certain people could get close to him, like me." Hermione told her, she knew that Draco would like this as she had seen him looking at just this necklace not that long ago in a magazine and he commented that he would like one of them.

"Do you think he will like it, I mean he is not one to wear jewelry and why would you be the only one not to get burned by the dragon, what about his girlfriend?" Daphne asked her with a smile on her face. She knew Hermione would charm it so that others would be able to get close to him.

"Well as his unofficial sister, I deem it my duty to keep the unwanted female population away from him, but I guess that I could make it so that you could hug him and I mean just hug him. I do not want to see the two of you snogging each other." Hermione told her with a smirk on her face similar to that which Draco wears most of the time.  
"OK, well I say let's go look for this necklace that will keep all the slags away from my man." With that said Daphne grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

"I think the necklace is stocked at Magical Gems and Jewels, we should try there first. Then we will look for a present from you to that oh so wonderful man of yours." Hermione told her with a sarcastic tone to her voice.

"Lead the way oh wonderful Princess of Gryffindor or should it be Slytherin now?" Daphne joked with her.

"Oh, I think it should be the Princess of Puddlemere United!" Hermione joked back.

As they walked down the street to the store, they joked back and forth about their respective others and what their titles should be. They found the necklace in Magical Gems and Jewels, so they set out to Quality Quidditch to get Marcus' gift from Daphne. But there walk was interrupted half way there.

"Well, if it isn't the traitor and her sides kick. What are you doing here; shouldn't you be off with your furry ferret somewhere?" Ron spat this at Hermione as he, Harry and Ginny walked by them, well more like pushed passed them.

"Shouldn't you have your face in a plate of food somewhere, I mean that's where you usually are, right?" Hermione replied to him, she was so done with them. She was tempted to hex Ron right where he stood.

"Ron, come on just leave them, they are so not worth it." Ginny grabbed her brother by his arm and tried to drag him away.

"Oh, yeah we aren't worth your precious time, well just remember Ginny who was their when a certain someone thought you weren't worth their time. Next time he decided you're not worth it, don't come to me, I happen to have not one but three men who think I am worth their time. Oh and look here they come now." And true to her word, Draco, Blaise and Marcus were headed their way.

"What do we have here; it's a Weasel, his Boy Wonder and the Weasellette. Now what could they possibly be talking to our girls about. It better not be anything nasty, I would really hate to get upset on a wonderful day as today." Marcus sarcastically spat at them while at the same time wrapping his left arm around Hermione's waist. At which point Hermione stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the check. At this gesture Ron went red in the face.

"Look we don't want any trouble; we were just walking by and thought we would say hi. No big deal." Harry replied, trying to defuse the situation they found themselves in.

"Yeah, well move along Scar Head and leave these girls alone. Next time we won't wait for an excuse, we will just start hexing you." Draco sneered at them.

The new golden tri walked off, but Ginny in a show of weakness and regret looked back Hermione with a sad look in her eyes. She missed her friend and was hurt that Hermione would bring up the past situation with Harry and her.

"So what are you to beautiful ladies up to today, doing a bit of shopping I see and what or who are we shopping for." Blaise asked the girls in a laughing way.

"Oh just for this or that, no one really. Just shopping to shop. But we do need to get going, why don't we all meet up around three at The Magical Menagerie, I need to get a gift for someone there." Daphne told the boys and took Hermione's arm and led her off in a different direction.

"Well boys, let's go find our girls their Christmas gifts. Hopefully we will not run into Potty and his Weasel sidekicks. But really guy's help with a gift for Daphne, I don't know what to get her." Draco whined to his friends. Normally he is not a whiner, but he had no clue what to get Daphne.

A/N: The next chapter will be Christmas and the New Year's party with the Quidditch team.


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